Ezekiel chapter 7

vs 1

And it will come again, and again, and every time Ezekiel is probably thinking, "What coming next?"

vs 2

I assume the land is the promised land, not the whole world. Even then, it's not the sort of thing you want to hear proclaimed. It does show how seriously God is taking his punishment of his people though.

vs 3

God isn't unnecessarily angry. It's more that he is punishing a long, long list of wrongs. God stayed his hand for a long time. But he doesn't forget iniquity unless asked for forgiveness, and his people as a nation have not turned back to him for a long time.

vs 4

Actually, if anything for most Christians a God that doesn't forgive, that doesn't have pity, that doesn't spare people, is hard to recognise as the Lord. But that's him all right, if you know your OT. Forgiveness is not a right, it's a privilege.

vs 5

Oh yes, it comes.

vs 6

Pretty passionate stuff. Ezekiel is going to have to wear a sandwich board and ring a bell at this rate. But all this repetition means God is serious about it. The end is really coming. Even though God will not forget his people, things won't be the same.

vs 7

I think this is the first time I've read the word 'doom' at the hands of a prophet, although people talk so much about their doom and gloom. If Ezekiel says 'gloom' too, he might end up my favourite prophet.

vs 8

Again, a repeat, but there really is no escaping this. For all the many, many times God has said he would do this, he is now saying, "You know all those times I said I'd do this. Well, I'm cracking open my can of whupass, and piling them all into one big, awful event.

vs 9

Again, more repetition. This idea of God's pity being at an end, and his wrath coming through in a very real and potent way is obviously a very important message that Ezekiel has here.